The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS) in Primary Care is assigned in the Primary Care functioning as a specialist in medication therapy management. The clinical pharmacy specialist functions at the highest level of clinical practice as a provider with prescribing privileges as outlined in the individual's scope of practice for Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS).

Duties

VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws The CPS plays a defined role in budgetary execution and serves as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify, or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans utilizing the most effective, least toxic and most economical medication treatments; helping achieve positive patient centric outcomes through direct and indirect interactions with patients, providers, and interdisciplinary teams in assigned areas; performing physical assessments; and ordering laboratory and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy. Duties will include: 1) Concurrently reviews medication usage as part of the overall quality assurance program and specifically focuses on reducing the number of prescriptions per patient. 2) Assists the Pharmacy Supervisors in the identification and development of new clinical responsibilities for Outpatient Clinical Pharmacists and in the planning to meet their staff development requirements. 3) Performs other administrative duties as assigned by the Chief, and Associate Chief for Clinical Pharmacy Service and the Chief Medical Officer. 4) May be required to perform administrative duties required for performance measures or improvement activities, compliance with accrediting organizations, or other duties as assigned. 5) May be required to participate in emergency preparedness activities because of national health disasters. Clinical: 1) Interfaces with primary care physicians in the design of the veteran's treatment regimen. 2) Independently works in the assigned clinic area as a mid-level provider designing medication therapy management (MTM) for patients. 3) Serves as an authoritative information source on drugs and their utilization in therapy. 4) Evaluates the drug literature by analysis of experimental design and methodology, to compare and contrast therapeutic regimens and roles for new drugs. 5) Designs dosage regimens for current pharmacokinetics principles and specific patient parameters. 6) From a verbal or written patient presentation of signs, symptoms, laboratory tests and diagnoses, recognize and list important medical problems, disease states, symptoms, or abnormal laboratory values, which may necessitate altering the therapeutic regimen. 7) Establish and expand the patient database through interpreting the drug history, medical history, physical examination, and progress notes. Education and Training: 1) Serves as a preceptor to students of Affiliated Schools of Pharmacy. 2) Serves as a preceptor to pharmacy residents. 3) Assists in the training of new pharmacy staff. Research: 1) Independently designs secure funding and conduct clinical research within the scope of Primary Care/Internal Medicine. 2) Actively collaborates with the Ambulatory Care Section in the design and implementation of research protocols, collection of data and participates in the analysis and interpretation of the results. Safety: 1) Comply with safety and environmental rules and regulations for safe job performance. 2) Use and maintain personal protective equipment when required and provided. 3) Promptly reports all accidents / illnesses to supervisor. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Available-Adhoc: (Employees who telework on an occasional, episodic, or short-term basis, and have completed required telework training and telework agreement.) (Portion of day acceptable) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Note: This is a Bargaining Unit Position.

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education: Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT). (Supporting Documentation required). Licensure: Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: GS-13 Experience: In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs: a. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions. b. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area. c. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise. d. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy. e. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. Preferred Experience: 1. PGY-2 Primary Care Residency (preferred) or PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency (minimum required) 2.Comprehensive knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy such as quality assurance/utilization review, informatics systems, drug information, etc. This level of knowledge is usually characterized by at least 1 year of experience in a specialized clinical area or advanced training/certification. 3.Comprehensive knowledge of pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, pharmacoeconomics, and pharmacotherapeutics. This level of knowledge is characterized by at least 1 year of experience in a specialized clinical area or advanced training/certification 4.Extensive skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. 5.Ability to design specific treatment regimens based on specific disease states for mental health patients to establish appropriate therapeutic outcomes. References: VA Handbook 5005/55 Part II Appendix G15 dated June 7, 2012. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-13. Physical Requirements: The position will require moderate lifting, 15-44 pounds, moderate carrying, 15-44 pounds, straight pulling (1 hour), Pushing (1 hour), reaching above shoulder, both hands required walking (1 hour), repeated bending ( 2hours), both legs required, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

NOTE: If your school was accredited by Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the ACPE website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

NOTE: Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT).

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Contacts

• Address VA TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]